By Sarah MacRitchie Russell*
From April 29 to May 2, Christian lawyers and law students from across Canada came together at the 2022 CLF National Law Student Conference in Vancouver to fellowship and worship God together, and to learn about the ways in which the Christian faith informs, inspires, and interacts with the practice of law. The four days of the Conference were an incredible blend and balance of spiritual encouragement and conviction, mental stimulation and refocusing, and, of course, socializing with fellow believers! As COVID restrictions had been easing across the country just ahead of the Conference, it was incredibly encouraging to be attending a Christ-focused gathering as my first major “post-pandemic” event. What better way to herald in the return to “normality” but by joining with other Christians to lift our hearts and voices to Him, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2), and having our minds drawn to and refocused on His supremacy, grace, and love.
The early sessions of the Conference gave students some guidance in practical topics, like how to tackle ethical, moral, and spiritual dilemmas in law, how to integrate our faith with our work, how to discern God’s will for our career, and what the practice of law actually looks like for different types of practitioners. The later sessions provided academic overviews of a wide range of pressing contemporary topics – human rights, freedom of religion, natural law, freedom of conscience, human trafficking, and reconciliation – and how the legal and societal challenges that occur in these areas could benefit from the work of practitioners who bring a Biblical perspective to the table. But the opening devotional of the Conference, which had implored us to view law as a ministry, had set a beautiful tone and lens for us to view the information we received through each of those sessions that followed. Throughout the weekend we were given the opportunity to hear examples of how lawyers and legal academics have found ways to make their work a ministry for God, and how those efforts have reaped blessing. It was a comfort and reassurance to hear how God honours those who choose to honour Him in spite of the challenges and adversities that doing so will often bring.
As a first-time CLF Conference attendee and someone only just beginning their career in law, I had not imagined just how uplifting it would be to attend a weekend of sessions devoted to the intersection of the Christian faith with law. I had sorely underestimated the impact that it would have on me to be immersed for those four days in an environment rich not only in love and praise for God, but also in the desire to worship and obey Him specifically (though not solely) in the practice of law. I came away from the Conference feeling as though God had been speaking directly to me through each presentation, message, and devotional, but I also came away knowing how keenly He had also been speaking to other students, too. It is such an incredible testament to His power, reach, and love that He can use the same words, spoken through a variety of broken but redeemed vessels, to deeply and intimately affect such a diverse array of people – people with unique and complex needs, prayers, and hopes for the future. What a tremendous God!
I also appreciated how the sessions provided an incredibly refreshing perspective on the law. The presentation of the law and legal system in Canada, over the weekend, was made with a measure of optimism rather than pessimism. Instead of being presented as a failing mechanism of constraint, the general portrayal of the law was as a tool through which we, as believers, can show God’s love to those around us. Although there was plenty of discussion on how the law in Canada could be further developed and improved in various ways for various groups, the main theme I took from the Conference was how the practice of law can be used to reach broken, hurting people – often during the hardest moments of their lives – and show them Christ-like compassion and love. It is much more than just politics, statutes, and something to argue over at the dinner table – it is a vehicle of grace, mercy, and justice, in a society wrought with fear, oppression, and division. It is a powerful instrument that we, who have been called to the practice of law, have been given a measure of stewardship over. It is a privilege and a tremendous responsibility, and our constant prayer should be that God will help us not to squander the opportunities that arise!
But the Conference was not “just” a time of structured messages, lectures, and sessions. It was also a wonderful time of fellowship, and mentorship. The notorious introvert that I am, I also had not expected that the moments of simply socializing with other attendees would be so profoundly impactful. Some of the most memorable, emotional, and touching moments of the Conference for me were those that occurred in simple conversations, often over dinner or during breaks. I went to the Conference to learn and to be moved for God through what I would hear of the need for Christian lawyers in Canada’s legal system, and that was without a doubt a part of the experience I had. But beyond that, I had not really considered the fact that many of the people I would meet at the conference – CLF members from across Canada, the very Christians currently on the “frontlines” of Canada’s legal system – were people that had been earnestly praying for me, whether through my association with Dalhousie’s CLF chapter, or by name! I can’t adequately put into words just how moving it was as this realization started to dawn on me through the course of conversations with various CLF members over the weekend. Leaving the conference, I felt that much more blessed and empowered because I know that many of those people (and more I haven’t met!) will be continuing to pray for me, for the other students that were in attendance, as well as for those that couldn’t be there. It is incredibly encouraging to know there is a network of prayerful lawyers and legal academics, who have walked a similar path to what I am now on, that are in my corner as I go forward.
The Conference will undoubtedly remain a highlight of my early legal education/career, if not a pivotal moment of it. I am so glad that I made the somewhat split-second decision to go, and that CLF was ready and able to help make it happen from a financial perspective. I’ve since come away with a much more optimistic outlook on the tough years to come as I settle into practice, and I feel so much less alone. Where law school felt isolating in many ways, as I realized how my perspective on the law is rendered so different by my faith when compared with my peers’, connecting with CLF (and especially connecting in-person after only having about one year’s worth of in-person learning over three years of law school) has given me a legal community, and greater sense of belonging. While this community was certainly accessible via CLF’s online presence, it never truly came alive in my mind until I arrived in Vancouver this past April. Whether or not I stay regularly in touch with those at CLF or at other university chapters in the coming years (though I certainly intend to!), I will always know that they are there, and that they, like me, will be working to glorify God in the ministry of law that we share. It is such a gift from God that I will forever be grateful for, but it is a gift I might easily have overlooked and underappreciated had I not made that last-minute decision to fly across the country for the Conference.
I cannot more highly recommend that other students make the effort to attend the future CLF Conferences. God is working powerfully through CLF, and the experience I had at the Conference is a testament to that. If every student in CLF chapters across Canada had the opportunity to be moved and encouraged the way that I was moved and encouraged over those four days, I can only imagine the extent to which God might be glorified in Canada in the coming years. The Conference shifted my perspective on my calling in an incredible way; I can only pray that other students, like me, will have the opportunities going forward to be so profoundly blessed by the dedication of CLF to student ministries like this. So, to CLF and to everyone who contributed time, resources, and prayer to making the Conference happen: on behalf of myself and the other students who attended, thank you very, very much.
*Sarah MacRitchie Russell, JD, is a 2022 graduate of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie, where she was the 2021-2022 President of Dalhousie Christian Legal Fellowship. She is now articling at Patterson Law in Truro, Nova Scotia. Sarah's time at law school was marked by demonstrations of God's grace: in addition to the pivotal connection she was able to make with CLF, she was one of several recipients of Schulich Law's top scholarship in 2020-2021, and in 2022 Sarah and her moot partner won the national Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot Cup, succeeding in the finals before a bench consisting of Justices Côté (SCC), Gauthier (FCA), Fuhrer (FC), Thorburn (ONCA) and Feldman (ONCA). She is interested in litigation, immigration, IP, and health-related law, but remains open to seeing where God leads her! She lives in Halifax with her husband, James, who is a lawyer and also a past executive member of Dalhousie CLF. They fellowship with believers at the Gospel Hall in Halifax, and in their free time love to play (and collect) board games, and go geocaching together.